Remember Alton’s serial no-show, Rep. Peter Varney? I wrote about him prior to Veto Day, when he turned his back on his fellow in-district colleague, Barbara Comtois, by blowing it off. Not only was he absent, which is not uncommon when you hear the usual variety of excuses, but he left her and her slaughterhouse bill high and dry in a situation where every vote mattered. It mattered so much that now-outgoing Rep. Flanagan moved to reconsider after voting the wrong way.
Before anyone accuses me of having a thing for Varney, here’s why I am writing about him again. In a reliably red rep district with 3 seats, he got the most votes (2967)! Yup, even when Barbara Comtois (2775) was the hardest working and Paul Terry (2732) reliably showed up for the People’s Work he was elected to do. I surmise that the Dems put Varney on top, but this blue tsunami has made Varney’s seat irrelevant.
When there’s a razor-thin margin, red or blue, it’s assumed it’s all hands on deck at voting time in House roll calls and committee executive sessions. Our recent Veto Day was a similar example, but only because the 2/3 threshold was made possible through bipartisan cooperation.
Consider the enemy camp in past legislatures for a moment and look at trashy Ward 4, home to pieces of work like Paige Beauchemin, trans jailbird SM Laughton, and serial no-show David Cote. Cote had been in office for 40 years, with the last few reelected without even reporting to work! He was all too happy to be a “rep for life” until Buckley had him step down at a time when every vote mattered. SM Laughton’s seat was similar. Cote never even bothered getting sworn in for the last (partial) term he was in office, but Ward 4 being Ward 4, voters were ok with that, and replacements like Beauchemin were installed by way of special elections.
With the incoming House numbers being what they are, Varney’s seat makes no difference as to whether or not it’s occupied. The enemy camp will steamroll Team Red, and Varney is probably relieved that he won’t even have to justify his presumptive absence over the next two years. Now is the time for the voters in Belknap District 7 to recruit and elect a 2028 primary opponent for Varney. Maybe Varney might even agree to step aside and save the trouble of a primary, but that’s something the locals in Alton and Barnstead would know more about than I would.
After the release of my previous article on Varney, I received a message from a reader using an alias. S/he suggested that my article appear in the Baysider, a local newspaper, so it could get more attention for Varney’s attendance. I took the suggestion and modified the article in an effort to meet the editorial standards for submission. I also sent follow-up emails up the staff’s chain of command to no avail. Unfortunately, I have a hunch the Baysider is what I would call a “Uniparty Ink Link,” and the two editorial staff members were kindred spirits of Carol Robidoux. What do you think, Altonians and Barnsteaders?
To Alton and Barnstead voters, I say it’s time to put Varney out to pasture in 2028, and any like-minded local who would like to submit my message to the Baysider as their own has my permission and encouragement.
